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Balance of Power: Trump Defies 70 Years of U.S. Policy on Jerusalem

As a candidate, Donald Trump boasted he could stand on New York’s Fifth Avenue “and shoot somebody” without losing votes. On Saturday, after the Senate passed his tax-cut proposal, he declared himself “unbeatable” in 2020.

Trump will again demonstrate his belief in his own invincibility today when he spurns warnings from Middle East leaders, European allies and even the Pope — not to mention 70 years of U.S. foreign policy — and formally declares Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital.

“No president up to now has wanted to risk it because there is no upside to doing it,” said Ilan Goldenberg, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. With the Palestinians claiming the city as a capital of a future independent state, Trump’s move could trigger riots and the targeting of American embassies, Goldenberg said.